Fastener for vault closures



s. TAYLOR. FA'STENER FOR VAULT QLOSURES.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.2B,1921.

1,429, 1 l 6. Patented Sept- 12, 1922.

ivd/rg Tayiof.

www MJ SIDNEY TAYLOR, or GALION, omo, Assienon To E. rfi/rounon, oreALioN, :omo:

FASTENER ron VAUL'T onosunns.

Application inea :riluttanza-1921. seriai No; 446,689. i

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNnr TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Galion, in the county of Crawford and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in Fasteners yfor VaultClosures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to closures for burial vaults and has for itsobject the provision of simple, easily operated and inexpensive means bythe use of which the door or closure may be quickly and securely lockedlin the open end of the vault. rlie intention seeks to provide mechanismfor the stated purpose which will apply the closing force along linessubstantially parallel with the plane of the door or closure so thatbuckling or bulging of the door will be prevented, and the inventionalso seeksv to provide -mechanism which,whe'nvinv locked position, willef fectually withstand efforts to release the door. 4

The invention is'illustrated in the acc0in panying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is an elevation'of a portion of the inner side of the doorshowing my improved mechanism mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 isaview, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, ofthe door and the locking mechanism showing theposition of the partsbeforetliefdoor is-locked;

ing lates moved to the locking position;

Fig. is a det-ail end elevation ofthe operating threaded spindle;

Fig. 5 is a detail side View of the bracket to which the' swinging clampis ypivoted;

Figs. 6 and 7l are end views of said clamp.

The door 1 is a metal plate of the usual form and is adapted to'fitwithin the open end of the vault, a portion'of which is indi-lV cated at2. As is usual in metallic burial vaults, a flange Bis secured intheopen end thereof andy a gasket l'which' may be of rubber or Votherycompressible materialA is fitted upontlie radial web of saidiiange.@rdinarily, these gaskets are of rubber but by the use of my lockingmechanism lead gaskets may be employed and a more durable f leak-proof`joint thereby eifected. The door is provided centrally with an openingthrough which a spindle 5 is inserted, the outer end G'of the spindlebeing angular to be Aengaged by a turning tool. intermediate 1 itsends,I the spindle is provided with a recessed flange adaptedto bearupon thehiniier side of the' door and contain apacking 8 while, at theouter side ofthe door, a nut 9, housing a packing 10', is itted upon thespindle. A lock nut 11 is mounted upon the spindle against Ithe nut 9 sothat the parts will be firmly securedv in place. The inner portion ofthe spindlef is, threaded, the threads 12h'aving a slight pitch so thatwhen the spindle is rotated considerab'lepower willbe exerted"therethrough 'and the rlocking mechanism easilyoperated.

` `The ring or' carrier 13', engaged upon the inner* threaded portion ofthe spindle, is

provided with four pairs of perforated lugs or earsA 14 spacedequi-distantly` around peripher'yand sofdisposed that` one,` pair oflu'gsfertends upwardly anbther pair downwardly lat a diametrieallyopposite point, while the intervening'lugsextend toward the yoppositevertical side edges of the door. lfivotedl between thelugs or ears ofeach -pair'isA a' link 15, the outerV end of which is pivotedwithin thebifurcated end 16 yof a locking jplate: 17 the said locking plate havinga head' portion 18 ldisposed adjacent an edge of thefd'oor and a shank19 extending'inwardly from "the said Ahead `portion, the bifurcation y16being formed in the iniierend ofsaidp'shank. ySuitable' bracing l arms2O yextendv `betweenV lthe shank andy the u Y longitudinallyin'the'lockin'g plateg Vaolint the inner endA of the shank andxatintervals headed-fr guidevv pin or stud: 22 is; inserted v head atoppositeside's ofthe shank so asto Fig. Slis a similar view showing thelock- `inthehead portion, and through each slotinto thedoor "so-that thelockingy plate will be l effe'c-tually held to. the door and Aguided.

in its movementgUpOnehenner face Ofi i each' head 18,1 provideaplurality` of driving lugs yQ3 arranged inpairsfand" project;v

i'ng inwardly from the vrespective heads; The free edge of the head,between tthe lugs of veach pair,^is notchedfasjat 245,."to,span` abracket 25 to whiclrtheiclamp 29''isfpiv-y oted. At the jsides of eachnotch' 24the outer edges 31" of the'lugs fmerge into'said surfaces 30,the edges Sli-being nearly'per pendicular to plane of,` the `head.'` Thebracket 2'5coinprises a`l fork 32 anda'y stem" edge of the head18 isbeveled" to rprovide the wedging' or ylifting surfaces. 30 andthe 105 ithe extremity of the stem being upset against the door to rigidly securethe bracket in place. The stem or shank 34 of the clamp 29 lits withinthe fork 32 and is pivoted thereto by a pin 35 in an obvious manner, oneend of the clamp being held in engagement with the head 18 by a spring36 and the opposite end of the clamp being forced against the flange 3by the action of the lifters 30 and the driving lugs 23. One end of thespring- 3G is secured to the clamp at that end thereof which is engagedby the driving locking plate and the opposite end of the spring isfitted in a groove 37 formed in the base of the fork 32 whereby, whenthe bracket is secured in place, it will firmly hold the spring and thesaid base portion or shoulder will fit flat against the door. lt will bereadily noted, upon reference to F ig. 2 that the spring holds the clampretracted so that it will clear the flange 3 while the door or closureis being' brought into its operative position. ln order that the clampmay be effectively engaged by the locking plate, l provide lateralextensions or wings 38 on the end of the clamp which are so disposed asto ride on the surfaces 30 and 31, and set screws 39 are mounted in saidwings and are adjustable to project through the working faces of thesame so that, notwithstanding irregularity in the formation of theclamp, a working engagement with each lug 23 may be effected and an eveneasy movement of the clamp obtained.

The locking plates at the two vertical sides of the door have straightouter edges, as will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. l,while the upper locking plate has an arched edge corresponding to thearcuate formation of the upper edge of the door, and the bottom lockingplate is, of course, provided with a straight lower edge 'correspondingto the straight lower edge of the door. The braces 26 of the bottomlocking plate, however,` are shorter than the braces 20 of the remaininglocking plates and'upon the upper edge of the bottom locking plate, Iprovide a plurality of shoulders or teeth 27 which are adapted to beengaged by a dog 28 pivoted upon the door above the bottom locking plateand held by gravity in engagement with one of the shoulders 27.

ln the use of the device, when the vault it to be closed, the Adoor isinserted in the end of the vault so that it will rest against the gasket4, the locking plates being .withdrawn so that the clamps assume theposition shown in Fig. 2 and may readily lclear the flange 3. A turningtool is then fitted to the outer end 6 of the spindle 5 and the saidspindle rotated whereupon the carrier 13 will ride outwardlyupon thespindle and the links l5 will be thereby drawn toward the door at theirinner ends and their outer Vends will be caused to more outwardlyparallel with the inner face of the door inasmuch as they are pivoted tothe locking plates and the locking plates held to the door by the pinsor studs 22. A slight movement oli the locking plates will cause thelifting edges 30 thereof to ride under the ends of the clamps 29 whichwill be thereby caused to swing inwardly and upwardly, riding upon thesurfaces 3l as the movement of the locking plates continues and beingthereby forced into binding engagement with the flange 3 to draw thedoor firmly against the gasket flso that a tight joint will be effected,lt will also be readily understood that each locking plate moves towardthe adjacent edge portion of the door and the bottom locking plate,therefore, moves downwardly. As the said bottom locking' plate moviesdownwardly, the dog 28 will tend to assume a vertical position and will,therefore, ride over the shoulder 27 nextthe shoulder with, which it hadbeen engaged and will thereby aid. in holding the locking plate in itspro` jected position. The dog will. form a positive means for resistingreleasing movement et the plates inasmuch as in order to withdraw thebottom locking plate it will be necessary to disengage the dog 28therefr in and as the dog is mounted on the inn lr fide of the door itis inaccessible. rlhe remaining locking plates will be likewise held intheir projected positions inasmuch as they are all connected to a commonactuating member and no one plate can be withdrawn by said memberwithout all the other platesbeing vwithdrawn.

lilly device is composed of very few parts and may be very readilyapplied to the door at a low cost. lt may be quickly and easily shiftedto the locking position and after bem ing so shifted will positivelyresist all efforts to remove the door.

Having thus described the invention, what 'e claimed as new is:

l ln a vault closure, the combination of a door, a spindle projectingthrough the door, a flange on said spindle at the inner side of thedoor, packing between said flange and the door, a nut locked on thespindle at the outer side of the door, packing interposed between saidnut and the door, a carrier threaded upon the inner end of the spindle,locking plates slidably mounted upon the inner side of the door, andlinks each pivcted at one end to the carrier and at its opposite end toa locking plate whereby upon actuation of the spindle the links will becaused to move toward a position in parallelism with the door and thelocking plates will be caused to slide outwardly.

2. ln a vault closure, the combination of door, a locking plate slidablymounted upon the door and provided with slots par* allel with the pathof movement of the plate,

lll)

headed pins fitted through said slots into the door, a spindle rotatablyfitted through the door, a carrier engaged upon the inner end of thespindle and caused to travel by rotation of the spindle, and links eachgiv-v oted at one end to said carrier and at the opposite end to alocking plate whereby when the spindle is rotated the locking plateswill be caused to ride outwardly under the heads of the said pinstowardthe free edges of the door.

3. rlhe combination with a burial vault,

and a flange secured in the open end of the' vault, of a door arrangedto bear against said flange, clamps mounted upon the door and arrangedto bind upon the said flange, means for holding the clamps normallyretracted, and other means on the door for driving the clamps intoengagement with said flange.

4. The combination with a burial vault, and a flange secured in the openend of the vault, of a closure insertible in the end of the vaultagainst said flange, swinging clamps mounted on the inner side of thedoor for movement in a plane at an angle to the plane of the door,yieldable means holding the clamps retracted, and means carried by thedoor to swing the clamps into binding engagement with the iange.

5. The combination with a burial vault, and a iange secured in the openend of the vault, of a closure insertible inthe end of the vault againstsaid flange, swinging clamps mounted on the inner side of the door,yieldable means holding the clamps retracted,`

slides mounted on the door and having their ends arranged to engageunder the clamps as theslides move outward whereby to turn the clampsinto binding engagement with the flange, and meanscarried by the doorfor actuating the slides.

6. The combination with a burial vault,

of the vault. against the flange, clamps,

mounted on the inner side of the door for swinging movement, slidesonthe door having beveled and inclined surfaces aty their free ends toengage thev clamps andeff'ect swinging movement of the same, and meanscarried by the door for i actuating f. said slides. 5

7. The combination with a burial vault, and a flange in the endthereof,- of a closure insertiblein the end of the vault and againstsaid flange,"swinging clamps carried by the door and provided withlateral wings, sliding points adjustable through said wings, operatingslides mounted on the door and provided with spaced driving lugs andlifting surfaces alined with said lugs, said lugs and lifting surfacesbeing arranged to ride under the sliding points whereby to effectturning movement of the clamps, and meansL carried by the door foractuating said slides. 8. The combination with a burial vault, and aflange in the open end thereof, of a door insertible in the open end ofthe vault, I

a bracketcomprising a fork and a stem projectlng from the fork andsecured in the door, the base of the fork 'having a groove therein intheside thereof presented to the door,a clamp pivoted within the fork, aspring secured at one end to the'clamp and having its opposite endportion seated in the groove in the base portion of the bracket wherebyto be secured by and between the bracket and ,the door, andfmeans onthedooracting on `the clamp in opposition .to

the spring to cause the clamp to bind upon the flange.

n testimony vwhereof I alfiX'my signature..

SIDNEY TAYLOR. [L s]

